Underdog Applicants Thread

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artaxerxes said:
man, my ECs suck.....
and the thing I don't think a lot of people get is that once your at the interview stage, grades and mcat doesn't really matter. What you talk about, which is going to come from your EC are going to be what matters.
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What's wrong with your ECs? You have research, volunteering, and some fun stuff on the side.
 
artaxerxes said:
here's the thing though, did you think your GPA suffered from that much volunteering?

I mean at even 30/wk as the other person posted, thats basically a full time job if you count the commute to and from. Add to that, social activities, research (I did about 20-25 hrs of research/wk in undergrad, but part of it was for credit), eating, sleeping, clubs/leadership, I don't see how someones academics doesn't suffer.
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Yeah, that's all my mentors have told me. Something to the effect of "...hmm, I think you were just a little bit unfocused and went volunteering-happy"

I did a lot of clinical stuff rotating through different departments at a hospital, had leadership experiences, research experiences/abstracts/publications, community service, jobs, and I tried to sleep when I could 🙁

GPA can really kill you...if only I knew! I would've cut back on so much clinical stuff 🙁
 
ymnCheetos said:
You're joking right? Honest to God my blood pressure just went up. What more could you have possibly done to be a better applicant? Screw this, I'm not reading SDN anymore, it makes me feel like crap. It's like everyone has a 40 and a 3.8 with awesome EC's and thinks they are an "underdog".
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again, I never said my grades weren't good, but when it comes to EC, its pretty thin. Pretty much everyone else has the same stuff, +internship, or leadership in club, class officer, Some renowned scholarship/award, teaching, EMT/clinical work.
 
artaxerxes said:
again, I never said my grades weren't good, but when it comes to EC, its pretty thin. Pretty much everyone else has the same stuff, +internship, or leadership in club, class officer, Some renowned scholarship/award, teaching, EMT/clinical work.
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Wait. If two years of undergrad research, 200 hrs of volunteering in a hospital, shadowing, kap-test tutoring and your other stuff mean lacking in ECs, then I'm screwed, majorly. I think it all depends on how well you refer to those ECs when it comes to your experience and what observations you made while there. If you spend 200 hrs in a hospital and 2yrs doing bench work and don't think that it has prepared you enough for medical school or added to your experience, the deficiency isn't in your ECs, but in your own perception of them. You aren't an underdog in any way, so I can see why people are getting irked and messing with your MDapps comments. People would kill for your stats and your ECs. Relax.
 
So I am a very lopsided candidate...i have great ECs and a good MCAT, but my GPA sucks. I didn't apply to screening schools because I'm hoping that schools really do look at "the whole applicant" and realize that I really could be a great doctor, even though i''ve made some mistakes. (overall 3.15, science 2.94)
 
artaxerxes said:
again, I never said my grades weren't good, but when it comes to EC, its pretty thin. Pretty much everyone else has the same stuff, +internship, or leadership in club, class officer, Some renowned scholarship/award, teaching, EMT/clinical work.
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You're not an underdog. You're aiming to have a sweep of acceptances. You want to be GODLIKE. There's a difference...

And while you're at it, loose the ego. If you honestly call yourself an underdog with the stuff YOU'VE done, I think you give a perfect face to the reason why SDN is a skewed representation of the real applicant pool.
 
a
 
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It's ironic that as this thread gets longer, the posters have become less "underdog"-like. I'm no expert, but 37R and 40 MCATs will offset your so-called "low" GPAs any day. If you really believe that you are an "underdog," then how come you are applying to all the "top tier" schools?

Urg, I clicked on this thread in the hopes of raising my spirit in this amass of insecurity thanks to med school applications, but instead now I feel even worse than I had before.
 
I don't get it. Why do people say that a high MCAT can offset a low GPA, but a high GPA cannot offset a low MCAT?
 
emquiksilver said:
I don't get it. Why do people say that a high MCAT can offset a low GPA, but a high GPA cannot offset a low MCAT?
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"Offset" is a very strong - and likely erroneous - word in this case. That being said, the MCAT is a standardized test, whereas GPAs can hold different meanings from school to school. People (at least on here) tend to see the MCAT as the "great equalizer."

Of course there's really no purely "offsetting"....but a high MCAT can help soften the blow of a low GPA to some degree.
 
Anybody with a 37 on the MCAT does not qualify for underdog status. The whole idea is that an underdog has below average stats and nobody expects them to get in. Scoring in the 98th percentile on the MCAT doesn't really fit that idea.

Can we make rules for this thread? Like, MCAT < 31, GPA < 3.4? Because otherwise we get people saying, "oh dear, I got a C+ once, I'm doomed!"
 
This forum is so full of douchebags I don't even know what to do. I come here looking for objective information and all I find is sniveling babies. People wonder why 3.9/40 doesn't get them into med school. Its hard to have a good interview with your head firmly stuck up your ass. Get a clue.
 
Well in terms of underdog status, there are generally 3/4 things to consider

GPA,
MCAT
EC
Interview/essays

a lot of people are great in some categories but bad in others. I personally don't think someone with great GPA and MCAT but poor EC and interviewing skills is at much of an advantage to someone with average/poor (say above 3.0-3.3) GPA/MCAT and great ECs and interviewing skills
 
TheRealMD said:
You're not an underdog. You're aiming to have a sweep of acceptances. You want to be GODLIKE. There's a difference...

And while you're at it, loose the ego. If you honestly call yourself an underdog with the stuff YOU'VE done, I think you give a perfect face to the reason why SDN is a skewed representation of the real applicant pool.
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I'm not applying to 26 schools for fun....I am not at all certain that I will get into any of my schools at this point.
 
artaxerxes said:
Well in terms of underdog status, there are generally 3/4 things to consider

GPA,
MCAT
EC
Interview/essays

a lot of people are great in some categories but bad in others. I personally don't think someone with great GPA and MCAT but poor EC and interviewing skills is at much of an advantage to someone with average/poor (say above 3.0-3.3) GPA/MCAT and great ECs and interviewing skills
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Because the initial cut is GPA/MCAT, they certainly do have an advantage. You have 0% chance of getting in if the never give you an interview or reject you pre-secondary.
 
pretty sure im an underdog.
mcats: april2006-25N, june2007-26P ---> yes! my goal was to improve by only one point. 😡
gpa: 3.49
got a D in intro bio freshman year (retook it of course)
and have an alcohol violation:hardy:

on the upside (i guess), i have great leadership experiences, community service, clinical summer program, emt-b certification, published research, and currently taking a year off to do internal medicine research at the medical school in my hometown.


im hoping to find the back door into med school.

best of luck to everyone.
 
dallas007md said:
pretty sure im an underdog.
mcats: april2006-25N, june2007-26P ---> yes! my goal was to improve by only one point. 😡
gpa: 3.49
got a D in intro bio freshman year (retook it of course)
and have an alcohol violation:hardy:

on the upside (i guess), i have great leadership experiences, community service, clinical summer program, emt-b certification, published research, and currently taking a year off to do internal medicine research at the medical school in my hometown.


im hoping to find the back door into med school.

best of luck to everyone.
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hey, don't sell yourself short. that alcohol violation is a great EC! it demonstrates that not only are you not a nerd 24/7, but you have the courage demanded of a physician to say, "you know what? i may get arrested for flipping off a cop/burning this couch/kicking a dog in a drunken stupor, but gosh darnit, it is the right thing to do." i think you have excellent secondaries essay material here.
 
OCallag said:
hey, don't sell yourself short. that alcohol violation is a great EC! it demonstrates that not only are you not a nerd 24/7, but you have the courage necessary of a physician to say, "you know what? i may get arrested for flipping off a cop/burning this couch/kicking a dog in a drunken stupor, but gosh darnit, it was the right thing to do." i think you have excellent secondaries essay material here.
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:laugh:
 
I'll throw my hat in here. Here's hoping schools look beyond the numbers.
 
See my mdapps. I am the president, chairman, and ceo of this club, and I am going to dominate medical school.
 
artaxerxes said:
I'm not applying to 26 schools for fun....I am not at all certain that I will get into any of my schools at this point.
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I don't know how you did so well on the MCAT when you have the common sense of a monkey. I mean, seriously. WTF is wrong with you're ECs!

I dont think im an underdog and my ECs are pretty sh*tty compared to yours.

You need to get your head outta your ass...
 
MedStudentWanna said:
I've never heard of a school that does anything like that. Are you sure someone isn't telling you a giant fib to up your spirits?
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I just recently found out that a certain med school ranks undergrads into 5 tiers and uses that to help them judge the strength of applications. It's been scaring the crap out of me cause my school ranks 3/5.
 
underdog here with sugar on top. Below average in everything...except for my looks. Yet, being super hot and ridiculously fabulous doesn't get you into med school. O well :laugh:
 
sign me up.

MCATs taken twice and despite my gpa looking OK, i messed up on crucial pre-med classes and picked it up with other courses.

im hoping my ECs will bring me up.
 
rds726 said:
sign me up.

MCATs taken twice and despite my gpa looking OK, i messed up on crucial pre-med classes and picked it up with other courses.

im hoping my ECs will bring me up.
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dude, being accepted to medical school already is the absolute disqualifier for this thread.

dude!!???
 
nehcmij86 said:
now that i have 5 rejections (1 by alma mater) and no acceptances (waiting on one school, one interview coming), can i post here?
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YES!!!! congrats, necco, you officially qualify for this thread!! we're all pullin for you, man.
 
ymnCheetos said:
I just recently found out that a certain med school ranks undergrads into 5 tiers and uses that to help them judge the strength of applications. It's been scaring the crap out of me cause my school ranks 3/5.
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i demand that you tell us which school does that. you should post this on the "does undergrad school matter" thread. apparently it does. who woulda thunk it?
 
i think i need to join the underdog club! i have an mcat that makes me cringe (and that was on my second try). i do feel like the rest of my app. is pretty good, although i could use more clinical experience (see my mdapps).

personally, i kind of like being an underdog. i know that i will make a great doctor someday and will keep working hard until i get there. it's times like these when i watch my favorite movie "rudy" for some inspiration.

good luck to all of the other fellow underdogs!!!
 
uofigirl said:
i think i need to join the underdog club! i have an mcat that makes me cringe (and that was on my second try). i do feel like the rest of my app. is pretty good, although i could use more clinical experience (see my mdapps).

personally, i kind of like being an underdog. i know that i will make a great doctor someday and will keep working hard until i get there. it's times like these when i watch my favorite movie "rudy" for some inspiration.

good luck to all of the other fellow underdogs!!!
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if you have to reapply, it would be very good if you retook the MCAT. it's definitely the weakest part of your application
 
good luck to you too!!
we'll see how that UIC "applicant in process" turns out...

hopefully it works out for us underdogs!
 
MDRus said:
i demand that you tell us which school does that. you should post this on the "does undergrad school matter" thread. apparently it does. who woulda thunk it?
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haha sorry I won't disclose which school it is. He also happened to come across the point system which the school uses to judge strength of applications. While apparently undergrad school counts, it doesn't count for all that much. He didn't have a lot of time with it so I don't have the details, sorry.
 
Ok, so I looked in on this thread because I figured "underdog" would mean people with stats on the lower side. Somehow or another people with a 37 and 3.8's winning pulitzer prizes think they are underdogs??? 😱 I think there are some people on here with academic bulemia. No matter what kind of grades they get they still don't really see how smart they are.
 
LoveBeatles said:
good luck to you too!!
we'll see how that UIC "applicant in process" turns out...

hopefully it works out for us underdogs!
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Mine changed into a final decision notification on 12/5. I haven't interviewed yet, BTW.
 
So I'm wondering if someone can give me a little reality check. If I applied to 20 schools and thus far have received only word of seven rejections and two "indefinite holds' is it time to start making other career plans? I've been told its pretty bad news if you don't get any interviews before Christmas. Does anyone know if this is true?
 
I know I am going to bomb the mcat sooo....how much can a 3.75 bcmp gpa and great ec's offset a ~25 mcat?

Really, the reason why I had to go the back way into my current college is because I bombed the sat's due to laziness. But in this case I flat out suck at timed chem and math questions.
 
mrt438 said:
So I'm wondering if someone can give me a little reality check. If I applied to 20 schools and thus far have received only word of seven rejections and two "indefinite holds' is it time to start making other career plans? I've been told its pretty bad news if you don't get any interviews before Christmas. Does anyone know if this is true?
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I certainly hope not cause I'm in your shoes (5 rejections, 3 holds, 0 invites). Judging from last years threads, and the fact that schools interview into April, I think you should wait until Jan or Feb to make that call. That's what I'm gonna do.
 
mrt438 said:
So I'm wondering if someone can give me a little reality check. If I applied to 20 schools and thus far have received only word of seven rejections and two "indefinite holds' is it time to start making other career plans? I've been told its pretty bad news if you don't get any interviews before Christmas. Does anyone know if this is true?
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If you were complete at those 20 schools in July or August AND the rejections or holds are from your state schools (or you're a CA resident), then you might have some cause for concern, but I certainly wouldn't say to give up hope. If you were complete at most schools in September or later, then I wouldn't sweat it (unless the rejections were from your state schools, which wouldn't bode well regarding your application as a whole). :luck:
 
You guys want to talk about underdog?

Reapplicant. 24M last year. 30N this year. 3.5 AO. 3.54 BCPM. 2 C's, 1 D during senior year because of anorexia. Sought recovery. Also have an alcohol violation, but no conviction. Was hospitalized for a month this summer and consequently was a bit late for applying this cycle...totally not what I had intended.

But, I have extensive research experience and publications, a generous in-state school, numerous clinical and leadership roles, and excellent grades prior to my senior year.

So....maybe my numbers won't hurt me so badly?

1 Hold at GW, 1 interview from state school, 7 rejections, awaiting on 20 other schools...
 
Thewrongstuff said:
I know I am going to bomb the mcat sooo....how much can a 3.75 bcmp gpa and great ec's offset a ~25 mcat?

Really, the reason why I had to go the back way into my current college is because I bombed the sat's due to laziness. But in this case I flat out suck at timed chem and math questions.
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It can offset it somewhat, especially if you get your apps out earl. I know personally as my mcat wasn't great, and I'm hoping that my lower score can be looked past. State schools are usually your best shot too. Don't start worrying about your mcat either until you actually take it. I had a friend who completely psyched herself out in the months leading up to her mcat and was convinced before going in that she would do horrible...and she did. If you tell yourself you'll do poorly then you will.
 
dd128 said:
It can offset it somewhat, especially if you get your apps out earl. I know personally as my mcat wasn't great, and I'm hoping that my lower score can be looked past. State schools are usually your best shot too. Don't start worrying about your mcat either until you actually take it. I had a friend who completely psyched herself out in the months leading up to her mcat and was convinced before going in that she would do horrible...and she did. If you tell yourself you'll do poorly then you will.
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Thanks!
 
Let's go underdogs!!! I hope we all have good news by the end of this year!
 
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